P.O.'d

My guilt overcame me yesterday and I went to the post office.

I haven't been to the post office in weeks, intentionally keeping my distance and keeping card mailings to PWEs I can drop off at the mailbox.

But the packages kept coming. I got four in the mail Monday, plus a couple of envelopes. Obviously, somebody is still going to the post office, I thought. So, I'd better get these long-delayed packages out of my house.

So I ventured to the one post office in town and I can honestly say I will not do that again until things calm down. I'm not sure -- because I'm not prone to such things -- but I think I had an anxiety attack when I was there. By the time I was done, I felt p.o'd. Not pissed-off. Post-officed.

The face covering thing, I think, is just too much for my senses. I get why people say they're necessary, even for a place where I am that has among the fewest positive COVID-19 cases in the state. But I can't get over the sight of seeing every single person in public with a protective mask. "Yes! That's a good thing," I can hear people exclaiming. And I know that. But for me, the very sight of it just makes me extraordinarily sad, like the pandemic has punched me in the head with the ultimate visual.

I went to the post office and the line was sectioned off with yellow, six-feet-apart tape. The counter where the postal workers make transactions with customers, featured protective plastic that hung from the ceiling separating the worker from the customer.

Each of the three postal workers working that day are familiar to me. I go there quite a bit, so I'm acquainted with them even if I don't know them. I don't have the experience with cranky workers that some people do with their post office, most of the workers I come across are quite pleasant.

The three workers Monday were a woman in her 50s, a motherly, knowledgeable sort who always has an answer to your question; a jolly, always chatty, glad-handing man in his 50s who likes to joke around; and a beautiful, polite-as-pie woman in her late 20s who practically whispers when she talks to you and sounds like the post-office angel. Every one of them was wearing a face covering. It stunned me. I don't know why, but it did.

Oh, everyone on the other side of the counter was wearing one as well. I was, too. But just the sight  of those normally cheery people, whose cheer comes from their mouths and their gleaming faces, practically muzzled was too much for me. The post-office angel called over to me from behind her mask. It practically broke my heart.

After paying my money, reaching under the plastic divider for my receipt and issuing my muffled thanks, I walked out and to my car. I still had two PWEs to put in the drive-up mailbox but I had to sit there for several minutes and compose myself. I didn't know what was happening, but I was pretty sure I was freaking out.

Some may think I'm being dramatic -- it's no big deal, just put on a mask -- but I think this is how I'm made. There are a bunch of other people freaking out because they're stuck in their houses day after day and I look at them and say, "what's the big deal? I love being home all the time." Well, we're all made differently and seeing everyone at stores with masks on their faces is too much for me. I'll stay at home, thank you, which is probably where I should be anyway.

So, thanks for reading all that, I wanted to get that out before showing off one of the packages that sent me out where I shouldn't be.

Reader Mike, who sent me the 1986 Fleer mini set that I blogged about a few days ago, supplied a very healthy package of cards a couple of weeks ago.

There were a whole bunch of Dodgers, including stuff from the '90s and '00s where I'm always sure to find something I need. The pickings were a bit slim this time, the above six were about the only ones I needed. But that's just the state of my too vast collection, Mike's effort was top notch.

The stamped 1994 All-Time Heroes Garvey was just one of several that Mike sent. I like this set a lot and really wish Upper Deck didn't stamp the cards for a needless parallel. I think I might use both the parallel and regular versions to try to complete this set. I'm not letting a stamp get in the way of this quest.

How about a couple of Dodgers from the highly underrated Conlon's Sporting News sets from the mid-1990s?

The card of Tom "Rattlesnake" Baker is fantastic just because of the back, which relays one of the stories Baker used to tell about the rattlesnakes he used to come across living in Texas. He claims in this card back story that a rattlesnake once bit the tire on his vehicle, puncturing it and also sending all the air into the rattlesnake until it ballooned so big that it exploded all over Baker. Now that's the most interesting card back story EVER.

An umpire card. Yeah, Mike will throw ump cards at you.

He likes sending me minor league oddballs, too, which I appreciate. I like this Upper Deck attempt to make you believe that Steve Garvey is in his Spokane Indians uniform in this photo when that No. 6 on his Dodger helmet is quite apparent. Typical UD sneakiness.

I can't help but put these cards in my Dodgers binders. I know I shouldn't, but until the Card Binder Cops come knocking on the door, that's where they're going.

TCMA, Pacific and Swell. The trifecta of historical sets. These are among my favorite things that Mike sends and how about that tractor lurking behind Harry Walker?

There were some Sabres in the package as well, and I spotted the Hasek theme right away. As long as you are sending me Hasek cards (Sabres only, please), you are doing all right. The most astounding goalie I have ever seen.

A smattering of Buffalo Bills, too. I am currently overhauling my football binder/boxes. I've been receiving many Bills cards and a lot of the '90s stuff is taking over -- as '90s stuff tends to do. It's forcing me to prioritize: Vintage and '80s Bills go in the binder, along with some current Bills stuff. You '90s and early '00s cards, get in the box.

This is definitely a binder football card. The 1961 Topps football set must be the most basic look issued for a mainstream set in the last 60 years. Not a lot of thinking went into this one.

Mike recognizes my fondness for women on cardboard. The disparity between men and women on cards is out of hand. I mean some of these people are amazing. Roberta Mancino is a sky diver AND a model, who has sky-dived naked several times. Something tells me she's not taking these stay-at-home orders well.

There was quite a bit to absorb in this assortment but I'll end it here, with a spring training schedule from this year. Mike sent me several copies of this, likely because it's a collectors item, as it printed a schedule for a number of games that were never played.

I don't know what the MLB season is going to look like this year, if it does happen. But after my reaction to what I experienced Monday, I think I will prefer either no season or a season with no fans as opposed to one where everyone is wearing facial masks.

As for the post office, it might be time to figure out how to send packages from my home. I know some other card bloggers do it and it's probably how they're avoiding going to the post office now.

Because while many of you are going stir crazy and need to get out, clearly at home is where I am meant to be.